Thumos is a Greek word that we often translate as "spiritedness" or "passion." It implies a spirit of contention or fight, like having a beer with your buddy and loudly insisting that Dylan was cooler than the Beatles. This is an excuse for spirited posts that follow my more or (often) less disciplined passions.

Nice, very specific book on mnemotechnics and Catholic religious education. Kevin Vost presents the art of memory in a catechetical context. The art of memory consists not of "drill-and-kill" rote repetition, but rather, of techniques of lively creativity and vivid imagination. For anyone interested in opening his mind and allowing it to reflect on the ideas, beliefs, experiences, and reflections of those who came before us, as well as those who are with us, holding the world and making it vivid in our mind's eye, this is book is a good resource.

Wonderful read. Foer's book is utterly charming. The frame of this book is participatory journalism, the story of how Foer went from observer of the U.S.A. Memory Championship to winner within the space of one year. Inside this frame, Foer engages questions of cultural memory, neuroscience, literary history and pre-history, self-improvement hucksterism, and trends in education, with a cast of characters that includes savants, frauds, mental athletes, Cicero, medieval scholars, Giordano Bruno, Mark Twain, and ESPN. It's a very brisk read, and raises fascinating questions.

Monday, January 14, 2013

Good read. A lot of short pieces on social issues politics, economics, race, education, along with personal reflections, as well as a couple of humor pieces. Sowell is extremely blunt but not inflammatory. A free market economist, he's intent at identifying incentives and looking at physical factors. His piece on the effect of geography on regional economies is fascinating, reminiscent of Jared Diamond. In this collection, I prefer the longer pieces to the shorter magazine articles. His personal stories about growing up in North Carolina and Harlem in the 30's and 40's are also excellent. I recommend this to anyone who wants to see the positions of conservatives and classical liberals laid out without any rancor. Sowell is well worth many readings.

The Revised Standard Version is an excellent translation. It combines the classic structures of the King James Version, phrases and elements that have become part of the fabric of our lives and history, with a modern clarity, and removes archaisms. I set out to read through it in one year, and it's not far off to say that it's been life-changing for me. A small example -- until going through it in its totality, I didn't really have a feeling for the prophetic voice. What's more, it's kind of addicting. I've made scripture a habit now, and this was a solid edition to start with.